Why I don't believe in God. Those who believe, please help me understand...

[Big Brother Val]

my own personal outlook on it is we were given the sentience and a world where we can do with it as we please. As a result theres a capacity for good or evil in all of us but at the end of it all we will all be judged on the basis of our actions in this life.

almost as if this existence is to test our worth as a being, where god is really nothing more than an observer who may pitch in every once in a while if an asteroid comes nearby or something, and on the basis of the good and bad things we do in our life we can do something (i dont know whether to truly believe in re-incarnation, or heaven/hell or if there is an existence after this one)

either way my view point is KINDA similar to the one my religon has so its all good

But doesn't God have a "plan" for us all?

So what the general rule is, we're all put down here, get to interact with eachother... murder children, or love them... do good things or bad... and based off of this, we'll get to go to Heaven or hell, right?

Well... what's the point of putting your children through hell, just to send other people there? Just so you can find out which of your children will do good, and who will do evil, just so you can cast your own children who were put in an unfair "test" into eternal damnation?

Why not just let us all live in peace to begin with? I think God knows which of us will do good, and which of us will not.

Didn't Jesus die for all of our sins before we even committed them?

Why test us, if he knows already which ones of us will pass, and which ones of us will not?

 

[HappyScrappy]

My thread on this topic...

Why do people thank God for good things, but not blame him for bad things?

http://boards.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=85698


As for the book. Well, it's a good book, very analytical. But I don't remember much about it, it's been a while. Maybe I'll re-read it after the holidays.

fro - I enjoyed that thread - anytime we get threads where it encourages discussion I'm psyched... although I don't think I added anything useful to it

a demon haunted world generally speaks of human psychology and the human psyche - and then how it relates to things around us. the difference between science and religion, or science and the various "out there" things like psychics, faith healers, etc etc.

but the general premise that I hold, and is also what he seems to in that book, is that we, as a people, need to feel that our lives have a purpose, that we are validated in some way. you need to find some way to fufill that need, and perhaps explain things to you as well - and for some, that is where religion fits. for others, it is something else.

 

[Big Brother Val]

Will this make me a believer, Scrappy?
I will truly read it, if it will enlighten me.

As will I.

 

[HappyScrappy]

Will this make me a believer, Scrappy?
I will truly read it, if it will enlighten me.

a believer? lol - that is up to you.
but the book helps point out what is there, and how to rationally look at it. it explains different points of views, and how to logically look at them.

what you take from that is your call - but it is an excellent book.

if you want something to sway you one way or the other though, I'm pretty sure you will have to look elsewhere.

it is a very easy read, and IMO thought provoking.

 

[Big Brother Val]

a believer? lol - that is up to you.
but the book helps point out what is there, and how to rationally look at it. it explains different points of views, and how to logically look at them.

what you take from that is your call - but it is an excellent book.

if you want something to sway you one way or the other though, I'm pretty sure you will have to look elsewhere.

it is a very easy read, and IMO thought provoking.

Sounds very interesting.

I don't want something to sway me in either direction... I just want something that at least tries to make sense of all the shit, whithout spitting out some church-based arguement about religion.

I don't wanna know about a church... I wanna know about the man who calls us his children, yet refuses to put a bandaid on our knee when we fall down.

 

[danielson]

But doesn't God have a "plan" for us all?

So what the general rule is, we're all put down here, get to interact with eachother... murder children, or love them... do good things or bad... and based off of this, we'll get to go to Heaven or hell, right?

Well... what's the point of putting your children through hell, just to send other people there? Just so you can find out which of your children will do good, and who will do evil, just so you can cast your own children who were put in an unfair "test" into eternal damnation?

Why not just let us all live in peace to begin with? I think God knows which of us will do good, and which of us will not.

Didn't Jesus die for all of our sins before we even committed them?

Why test us, if he knows already which ones of us will pass, and which ones of us will not?

hmmm tough question about the children

i'd just say its because the universe is like a world where we reside in and it recieve no other outside interference. it has physical laws which govern it and our existence

as such a father can beat his child within that world. just like all the others who die (babies in plane crashes etc) but if people can try to help the childget through his torment and stop it, it will benefit them all in the long run. some questions do kinda throw a spaner in the works as i can see how the father being evil may influence the child, but if the child grows up seeing what the father has done as to be truly reprehensible and grows from it, he will be a much better person for it

as for jesus dying for our sins etc, im not christian

 

[MommaKin]

hehe....I'm not looking to become a believer.....and, knowing me like I do, it would take alot more then a book to do that.....
it sounds interesting..I'm intrigued...I look it up and then decide if I'll buy it and read it...
Thanks for the tip

a believer? lol - that is up to you.
but the book helps point out what is there, and how to rationally look at it. it explains different points of views, and how to logically look at them.

what you take from that is your call - but it is an excellent book.

if you want something to sway you one way or the other though, I'm pretty sure you will have to look elsewhere.

it is a very easy read, and IMO thought provoking.

 

[casavant]

God is mysterious. The fact that you question Him reveals your arrogance. The ways in which he works are so far superior to anything we can comprehend that you just must trust in him, and that everything happens for a reason.

Just kidding. Your post reflects my own thoughts to a tee. Let me know when you figure out why so many people concur with the Christian belief system, because I haven't yet.

 

[MommaKin]

lol...you had me going there for a min.

God is mysterious. The fact that you question Him reveals your arrogance. The ways in which he works are so far superior to anything we can comprehend that you just must trust in him, and that everything happens for a reason.

 

[Big Brother Val]

hmmm tough question about the children

i'd just say its because the universe is like a world where we reside in and it recieve no other outside interference. it has physical laws which govern it and our existence

as such a father can beat his child within that world. just like all the others who die (babies in plane crashes etc) but if people can try to help the childget through his torment and stop it, it will benefit them all in the long run. some questions do kinda throw a spaner in the works as i can see how the father being evil may influence the child, but if the child grows up seeing what the father has done as to be truly reprehensible and grows from it, he will be a much better person for it

as for jesus dying for our sins etc, im not christian

I agree... that's my point. Some say that God does answer prayers at times... and pulling people through seemingly impossible situations are "acts of God"... and so on... yet when people suffer we just have to swallow shit, because he doesn't interfere.

If he doesn't interfere, why do people pray? Why ask for help that he will NEVER give?